Help naming deck refinishing estimate?

I was offered a job today by my friend's mother to refinish her deck, and I get to name my price....but I don't know what that should be. I don't want to insult her, nor do I want to gyp myself.

What is a reasonable amount to ask for? The job will involve removing the old painted finish, then staining/sealing. Materials will be provided.

I have $175 in mind because I want to get a Milky L1, but I once painted a fence for $200....Any thoughts?

Double the cost of materials.

How big is the deck, and what's the existing finish?

Stripping off the old finish can be a very time-consuming job, then you should figure out if it's just a simple staining job, or staining and water sealing, etc.

I refinished the 12 stair treads in my old condo, and working four hours at a go, it took me three weeks to get it all done to a high quality of work.

scott.cr said:

How big is the deck, and what's the existing finish?

Stripping off the old finish can be a very time-consuming job, then you should figure out if it's just a simple staining job, or staining and water sealing, etc.

I refinished the 12 stair treads in my old condo, and working four hours at a go, it took me three weeks to get it all done to a high quality of work.

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I haven't seen it yet, but it is on the ground floor, so no more than 3 or 4 stairs for me to worry about The old finish isn't that old, it was painted by mistake by a person that purchased paint instead of stain and did the work while the owner was away. So I'm figuring most of my time will be spent sanding/scraping the paint off.

Thanks for the feedback. I always feel weird when people get me to do work for them and leave it up to me to decide the pay.

I have lots of experience removing paint from wood. I did all the doors inside the house. The only reason I did this instead of buying new doors was that it was cheaper, and the new doors, or at least any we could afford, are made like crap. I can tell you emphatically that removing paint from wood is an ordeal. It took me all day to do one door. I had to apply methylene chloride paint stripper, let it do it's thing, scrap off the paint, repeat once or twice to remove most of the residue, then sand with a belt sander. My guess is an average size deck would take a good week to strip, then a day or two to stain. If the wood isn't in great shape it might be more effective from a labor standpoint to just rebuild the deck. I'm personally through stripping paint. It's backbreaking work plus the chemicals are nasty. Methylene chloride smells horrible, burns if it goes on your skin, and the fumes are flammable. We have one room left where the trim is painted. When that room gets done, the old trim will be removed and replaced.